Tank roof



Feb. 15, 1949. P. OFFENHAUSER TANK ROOF Filed Feb. 12,- 1946 3Sheets-Sheet, l

Feb. 15, 1949. R @F S 2,461,763

TANK ROOF s Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 12, 1946 Feb. 15, 1949.QFFENHAUSER. 2,461,763

TANK ROOF Filed Feb. 12, 1946 s Sheets-Sheet s 7 l I: l7- I; ll 7 L & I8

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Patented Feb. 15, 1949 Paul Ofienhauser, Houston, Tex.

Application February 12, 1946, Serial No. 645,105

, 1 This invention relates to a tank roof. An object of the invention isto provide a roof or cover of the character described .which has beenspecially designed for use in connection with large storage tanks,particularly tanks for storing oil.

' 'It is another object of the invention to provide a tank roof of suchconstruction that it will float on the liquid in the tank and readilyrise and fall with the liquid level without injuring the tank or roomand while constantly maintaining a seal to prevent the escape of vaporsfrom the oil in the tank.

' It is a further. objector the present invention to provide a floatingtank "roof which will adjust itself to a tank out of plumb and at thesame time maintain a perfect seal to prevent the escape of said vapors.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a tankroof of the character described which is very flexible.

Other advantages will be apparent from the following specification whichis illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is afragmentary vertical sectional view of a tank showing the roof insection.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse sectional view taken onthe line 22 of Figure 3.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional View taken on the line 3-3 of Figure1'.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4-4of Figure 5, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 5-5 ofFigure 3.

Referring now more particularly to the draw-.

, is welded to the outer wall.

The inner wall of the trough is of a frust'oconical contour. This troughis maintained entirely or partly filled with a suitable liquid,prefcrably a liquid that is unaffected by changes in temperature.Opposite the trough are the shoes 6 which extend entirely around thetank I and whose side margins overlap as shown in Figure 4.

2 Claims. (01. 220-26) These shoes are shaped to conform to the contourof the tank wall and surrounding the tank and located between it and theshoes there are the flexible upper and lower tubes 1 and 8 formed ofrubber" or similar material and having relatively stifi walls so as totend to maintain a shape which is circular in cross section contour.

When assembled with the roof and located within the tank the tubes areunder pressure, as

in Figure 1, and are substantially elliptical in shape in cross section.The trough hereinab-ove referred to is connected to the shoes S'bylinks, as 9, there being, preferably, two links to each shoe. The endsof these links have eyes which are linked with similar eyes of thebracketslll, II. The brackets ID are secured to the outer wall 5 of thetrough and the brackets H are secured to the corresponding shoes 6 sothat the roof may sway back and forth depending on the'swaying movementsof the tank.

Inside of the trough there are the roof sections I2, I3 which arealternately arranged and I which taper inwardly, as shown in Figure 3,that is the sides of the sections [2, l3 will extend radially relativeto the tank; also the sides of the sections l2 converge upwardly and thesides of the sections [3 diverge upwardly so that the sides of thealternate sections will fit closely together. These sections arecompletely enclosed and are buoyant and the sections [3 are, preferably;weighted by being partly filled with water or similar liquid, so thatthey will be maintained closely seated between the sections l2, asillustrated in Figure 2.

The roof sections l2 and I3 do not extend entirely to the center thusleaving a substantially.

cylindrical openin M, which is closed by a correspondingly shapedsection l5, which is completely enclosed and which has a centraldownspout Hi extending entirely therethrough and into the tank beneath.

The outer ends of the sections l2, I3 converge upwardly to conform tothe shape of, and to fit closely against, the inner wall of the troughand the inner ends of said sections converge downwardly. The sides ofthe section 15 converge downwardly to conform to the contour of, and tofit closely against, the inner ends of the sections l2, l3, as shown inFigure 1.

The sections I2, 13 are somewhat narrower vertically than the outer endsthereof and the top and bottom walls of the section l5 are aligned withthe corresponding top and bottom walls of the sections l2, l3, so thatthe section assembly, composed of the sections l2, l3, and I5 presents aslightly concaved upper and lower face, as clearly shown in Figure 1.The section I5 should be weighted, preferably by liquid therein, so thatit will be held firmly in its seat.

The trough is covered by the overlapping plates l! which are fastened,at their outer ends, to the inwardly turned upper margins of the shoes6, as shown more clearly in Figure 5, and the inner margins of theseplates rest on the upper margin of the inner wall of the trough, asshown in Figures 1 and 5. Therefore water falling onto the roof will bedeflected by the plates ll 'onto the roof section assembly and willdrain'to the center and pass through the down spout 1'6 and, beingheavier than the oil, will collect at the bottom of the tank and may bedrained off.

If desired the roof sections 12 and itmay have th bottom surroundingflanges I8 and may be I inwardly beveled above the flanges to provide av-groove around each section and a resilienttube, .as |9,:may be .flttedinto each of said V- grooves. These tubes I9 should have relatively iiithick walls to normally maintain their shape but when the sections areassembled together and pressure'appliedto them, they will conform to theshown in Figures 1 and 5. The resilient tubes, or 1 gaskets 1, 8 and 19thus seal the roof against the escape of vapors from the oil.

The gaskets 19 may, if desired, be dispensed with and the roof sectionsassembled as illustrated in Figure 2 and thus form substantially leakproof ,joints.

If the tank is out of plumb the roof hereinabove described may shiftcorrespondingly and thelgaskets I and 8 correspondingly contract orexpand to maintain leak proof joints between the roof and .the tank; orif the tank sways due to heavy winds the roof is so mounted that it willadjust itself correspondingly.

It is to be noted that the shoes 6 extend entirely around the tank andmove up and down with .the roof so as to relieve the tubes, or gaskets 7and 8 fromany frictional contact with the walls of the tank; also aconstant outward pressure is exerted against the tank walls to maintainthe tank round.

The drawings and descriptions are illustrative merely While thebroadprinciple of the invention willbe defined by the appended claims.

Vv hat I claim is:

1. A tank roof comprising, an annular trough within, and spaced from,the tank walls, the inner wall of the trough converging inwardly andupwardly, an external annular flange on the lower end of the trough,shoes spaced apart around the trough and in contact with and slidablealong, thetank walls, an annular seal around the trough and between itand said shoes and supported on said flange, links flexibly connectingthe shoes to the trough, buoyant roof sections assembled within thetrough and fitted together and whose outer ends converge upwardly andfit, throughout the area of said outer ends, closely against the innerwalls of the trough.

2. A tank roof comprising, an annular trough within, and spaced from,the tank walls, the inner wall of the trough converging inwardly andupwardly, an external annular flange on the lower end of the trough,shoes spaced apart around the trough and in contact with and slidablealong, the tank walls, an annular seal around the trough and between itand said shoes and supported on said flange, links flexibly connectingthe shoes to the trough, buoyant roof sections assembled within thetrough and fitted together and whose outer ends converge upwardly andfit; throughout the area of said outer ends, closely against the innerwalls'of the trough, said roof sections having grooves around theirlower ends and resilient tubes in the grooves forming seals with theadjacent parts of the roof.

PAUL OFFENHAUSER.

.REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS France Apr. 25, 1933

